Thursday, January 04, 2007

Hospital Update - 2

Today's x-rays showed that Maggie's lung is no longer collapsed; she popped open the bottom lobe. Her left lung still doesn't look quite as clear as her right, but it's open and improving!

She lost weight during the surgery and hospitalization, but she lost even more from the collapsed lung. It was good to see she's gained back half of what she lost from the lung problem.

On the "Insurance meets Speech Therapy" front, I've discovered that our old perfect therapist is still practicing three afternoons a week but is not in-network for insurance coverage. Figuring that we'll have to stay in-network, I started hunting speech therapists. We either have to go to Illinois or to Milwaukee. Most of the Illinois locations are closer than Milwaukee, but take just as long to drive to because of the infamous Chicago traffic. I'm seriously considering paying out-of-pocket for our old therapist because she's so much closer than the other options (one-hour roundtrip instead of two) and because she's entirely willing to train me to do the work so that we only have to go a few times and check back periodically instead of going 3 times weekly.

We're wondering too if the collapsed lung could've led to the hypernasality. Now that the lung is reinflated, maybe we just need to work on undoing the bad habits that took hold while Mag was trying to protect herself from pain in the chest. (Hey, I can hope, can't I?)

1 comment:

  1. Also consider the cost of gas and wear and tear on the car. Perhaps your old therapist will give you a break on the price. My mother-in-law has drilled a saying into my head "It never hurts to ask, Honey".

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